Welcome to My Red Cape. Long ago in another time my husband Jack and I lived in a little old red house. It was the stuff of dreams to us for the few years that we were there. I live there still a number of hours every day in imagination, with old dolls and paintings and fabrics and feather trees. I draw inspiration and happiness from the memories of that space in time and share some of it here with friends who remember how to step with Alice through the looking glass and take delight in whimsies and antiquities.

For more than sixty years I have studied, collected, repaired, and bought and sold antique dolls. They have been back ground music in my life at every stage, sometimes louder, sometimes subdued, but always there with me. To see only the posts about dolls on this blog, click the banner on the right titled “Dolls for My Red Cape”. Keep clicking “Older Posts” to see more.
Some of the posts featuring rug hooking are gathered under the banner “For Cathy”.
From time to time items are offered for sale under the banner “O’Neill’s Antiques” which was our shop name for many years.
~Edyth O’Neill

Thursday, May 22, 2014

A Motschmann doll in an unusual size

Why do I like this Motschmann doll head? How does one explain what piques a collector's interest? Her bright expression and life like glass eyes are part of it. She is a fairly rare find. Many of the papier mache dolls with snoods were wax over papier mache, and often blond. This one shows no residue of wax and instead the residue of an early finish. Her painted hair shows desirable brush marks at the sides of her face. See how these early dolls glow against the fabrics in this grand old log cabin quilt. Click on any photo to enlarge it.

Although she is a very worn example I am enjoying this head from a doll of about civil war age. She has lost what was obviously a Motschmann style body. To display her I will want a body for her and a dress of old calico if possible. While watching for the right body or parts of one, I will make a cloth body of the right height, using the blond waxed Motschmann example pictured to aid in getting the right proportions for this one. The three dolls in the front of this picture are not as early as the three Voit dolls standing behind them. I do not know her maker, perhaps Muller, only a guess. I date her right at 1860, 65. e

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joneill816@austin.rr.com
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Rugs for My Red Cape Book Is Now Available in PDF Form

$15 via Paypal

The book Rugs for My Red Cape is now offered in pdf electronic file form. You may download the book to your computer to read it there as a single or double page spread. Purchasers of the PDF book may print any and all pages from your computer for your personal use. Please respect copyright.

By clicking the buttons below you will be able to purchase it with a Paypal account. After purchasing a download link will be emailed to you. I would love your feedback to me on this as it is a first digital venture of this type! email to joneill816@austin.rr.com